An information processing apparatus is used in a network environment including a plurality of printing apparatuses and a plurality of client devices which form printing data for realizing a printing processing in the plurality of printing apparatuses. Regarding an association between printing apparatus and driver constituting a selection unit at the time of distributing drivers corresponding to the printing apparatuses, from the information processing apparatus to the client devices, it is possible to prepare and select associations of [N:1], [1:N], and [N:N]. As a result, it is possible to mitigate erroneous association selection and to achieve further simplification in procedures at the time of selection, which leads to a reduction in total cost of ownership (TCO).
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. An information processing apparatus comprising at least a processor, functioning as: a device selection unit configured to select one or more devices from among a plurality of devices; a first determining unit configured to determine whether one device is selected or more than one devices are selected by the device selection unit; a control unit configured to display a selection screen for allowing selection of one or a plurality of device drivers associating with the one or more selected devices according to a result of the determination by the first determining unit; a driver selection unit configured to select the one or the plurality of device drivers through the selection screen; a registration unit configured to register information indicating a relation between the one or more selected devices and the selected one device driver or the selected plurality of device drivers prior to an installation process; and a client selection unit configured to select a client in which the installation process is performed using the registered information, wherein the control unit displays, as the selection screen, a first screen which allows selection of the plurality of device drivers in a case where the first determining unit determines that one device is selected by the device selection unit, and displays, as the selection screen, a second screen which is different from the first screen and allows selection of the one device driver in a case where the first determining unit determines that more than one devices are selected by the selection unit.
2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the processor functions further as: a type determining unit configured to determine whether the selected devices are of a same device type in the case where the first determining unit determines that more than one devices are selected; and a printing language determining unit configured to determine whether the selected devices have a same printing language in the case where the first determining unit determines that more than one devices are selected, wherein the control unit displays a message indicating an error in a case where the selected devices are not of the same device type or where the selected devices does not have the same printing language.
3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the registration unit registers, as the information, name information and port information of the selected devices.
4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the registration unit registers, as the information, the port information of each of the selected devices in the case where the first determining unit determines that more than one devices are selected.
5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the device has at least one of a printing function and a facsimile function.
6. An information processing method performed by a processor in an information processing apparatus, comprising: selecting one or more devices from among a plurality of devices; determining whether one device is selected or more than one devices are selected; displaying a selection screen for allowing selection of one or a plurality of device drivers associating with the one or more selected devices according to a result of the determining; selecting the one or the plurality of device drivers through the selection screen; registering information indicating a relation between the one or more selected devices and the selected one device driver or the selected plurality of device drivers prior to an installation process; and selecting a client, in which the installation process is performed using the registered information, wherein the displaying displays, as the selection screen, a first screen which allows selection of the plurality of device drivers in a case where one device is selected, and displays, as the selection screen, a second screen which is different from the first screen and allows selection of the one device driver in a case where more than one devices are selected.
7. The method according to claim 6 , further comprising: determining whether the selected devices are of a same device type in the case where the selected arbitrary number of devices is plural; and determining whether the selected devices have a same printing language in the case where more than one devices are selected, displaying a message indicating an error in a case where the selected devices are not of the same device type or where the selected devices do not have the same printing language.
8. The method according to claim 6 , further comprising registering, as the information, name information and port information of the selected devices.
9. The method according to claim 8 , further comprising registering, as the information, the port information of each of the selected devices in the case where more than one devices are selected.
10. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the device has at least one of a printing function and a facsimile function.
11. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing a computer-executable program of instructions for causing a computer to perform a method comprising: selecting one or more devices from among a plurality of devices; determining whether one device is selected or more than one devices are selected; displaying a selection screen for allowing selection of one or a plurality of device drivers associating with the one or more selected devices according to a result of the determining; selecting the one or the plurality of device drivers through the selection screen; registering information indicating a relation between the one or more selected devices and the selected one device driver or the selected plurality of device drivers prior to an installation process; and selecting a client, in which the installation process is performed using the registered information, wherein the displaying displays, as the selection screen, a first screen which allows selection of the plurality of device drivers in a case where one device is selected, and displays, as the selection screen, a second screen which is different from the first screen and allows selection of the one device driver in a case where more than one devices are selected.
12. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium according to claim 11 , further comprising: determining whether the selected devices are of a same device type in the case where one device is selected; and determining whether the selected devices have a same printing language in the case where more than one devices are selected, displaying a message indicating an error in a case where the selected devices are not of the same device type or where the selected devices do not have the same printing language.
13. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium according to claim 11 , further comprising registering, as the information, name information and port information of the selected devices.
14. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium according to claim 13 , further comprising registering, as the information, the port information of each of the selected devices in the case where more than one devices are selected.
15. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium according to claim 11 , wherein the device has at least one of a printing function and a facsimile function.
16. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the processor functions further as a storage unit configured to store information indicative of a correspondence between a plurality of devices and a plurality of device drivers, and wherein the control unit displays, as the selection screen, the first screen based on the stored information in a case where the first determining unit determines that one device is selected, and displays, as the selection screen, the second screen based on the stored information in a case where the first determining unit determines that more than one devices are selected.
17. The information processing method according to claim 6 , further comprising: storing information indicative of a correspondence between a plurality of devices and a plurality of device drivers, and displaying, as the selection screen, the first screen based on the stored information in a case where the first determining unit determines that one device is selected, and displaying, as the selection screen, the second screen based on the stored information in a case where the first determining unit determines that more than one devices are selected.
18. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium according to claim 11 , further comprising: storing information indicative of a correspondence between a plurality of devices and a plurality of device drivers, and displaying, as the selection screen, the first screen based on the stored information in a case where the first determining unit determines that one device is selected, and displaying, as the selection screen, the second screen based on the stored information in a case where the first determining unit determines that more than one devices are selected.
Cooperative Patent Classification codes for this invention. Click any code to explore related patents in that topic.
August 18, 2010
October 14, 2014
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